Gathering and stitching machine



Oct. 15, 1935; D.- REISER ET AL GATHERING AND STITCHING MACHINE FiledFeb. 23, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l 00. 15, 1935. REISER ET AL v I 2,017,512

GATHERING AND STITCHING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25,- 1932 3 Sheets- Sheet 2QJ/PZ/JER s m 3/ a 4770mm D. REISER El AL GATHERING AND STITCHINGMACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 25, 1932 IN VEN TOR; l2 Pass/POJPE/JzS/P A TTORNE y Patented Oct. 15, 1935 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFIQEDaniel Beiser and Orin J. Reiser, Shaker Heights, Ohio ApplicationFebruary 23, 1932, Serial No. 594,420

17 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for gathering and stitching printedfolders, booklets, magazines, signatures, and the like and has for itsobject the provision of improved mechanism for conveying such devicesalong the gathering line and for timing and controlling the sti chingoperation. More specifically stated the objects of the invention relateto the provision of a gathering and stitching machine having a singleconveying element traversing a plurality of the diiierent stations,viz., gathering, stitching, and delivering; the provision of an improvedintermittent motion for the purpose in View; the provision of meanswhereby the length of travel upon each successive advance can beadjusted and accurately maintained; the provision of improved mechanismfor controlling and properly timing the operation of the stitchingdevice; the provision of a machine of this character having partsoperating at variable speed whereby a high output is obtained withoutexcessive velocities and whereby the necessary dwell is provided for thegathering and stitching operations; while further objects and advantagesof the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this application wehave shown our improvements as embodied in a specimen machine, choosingfor this purpose a saddle machine of well-known general type,cooperating with a stitcher, also of well-known type, and an unloader ofknown construction. It will be understood that our improvements are notlimited to this particular type of machine. Fig. 1 is a side elevationillustrating the essential parts of our improvements inpracticalrelation; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine shown inFig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional View corresponding to thelines 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a rearelevation of that part ofthe machine corresponding to the line 44 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is anenlarged detail view of the cross head shown in Fig. 4; Figs. 6 and '7are sectional views corresponding to the lines 65 and 7-? respectivelyof Fig. 5; Figs. 8, 9, l0 and 11 are detail sectional viewscorresponding to the similarly numbered lines of Fig. 2; and Fig. 12 isa detail view corresponding to the line l2|2 of Fig. 1.

The type of machine with which we have shown our improvements is thatcomprising an elongated, horizontal saddle I supported on upright legs 2and adapted to receive partly opened signatures which are laid thereon,and transported from one end thereof to the'other. This saddle issubstantially the shape of an inverted I as will appear from Fig. 3, andis here shown as consisting of two narrow, elongated, metal strips 22secured close together in downwardly diverging relation, and two otherstrips 3-3, coplanar with the strips 22 and spaced therefrom to define apair of longitudinal slots 4--4, one at each side of the saddle andextending from end to end thereof, for the reception of the conveyingelements. These conveying elements preferably consist of endless chains5, mounted in channel 19 guides 6 extending from end to end of themachine, one in each slot 4, each chain passing over a driving sprocket1 at the discharging end of the machine and an idler sprocket 8 at thereceivingend. We have also shown other idler sprockets 9 and H! asengaging the lower run of the chain, sprocket I0 being carried on apivoted arm It so as to keep the chain taut and diminish vibration. Wehave also shown'this machine as provided only with a single chain, 0thisbeing done partly for simplicity and partly because of the fact thatin some cases a single chain is sufficient; but it should be understoodat all times that this conveyor may be single or double at will.

Intermediate the two ends of the saddle is located the stitchingmachine, which may take any one of a great many forms known to the art,and may serve either to introduce loops of thread or staples of wireinto the signatures as they pass. 30 In the particular embodiment hereshown the stitcher comprises a turret 13, carried by an independentpedestal l4, said turret having a portion overlying the saddle andprovided for the removable and adjustable reception of stitching- 5heads l5--l6. This stitcher comprises mechanism (not shown) whereby foreach rotation of its drive shaft 11, the heads l5 and I6 are presseddownwardly in close contact with the signatures on the saddle and astitch or staple inserted by 4 each head. Ordinarily this operation iscontrolled by means of a treadle [8 carried by the pedestal M anddepressed once for each stitching operation. We have shown our improvedgathering and conveying mechanism as associated with this stitcher insuch wise as to employ the latter without change, even to-the operationof the treadle, though it is equally within our invention to employspecial controlling devices. However, it is sometimes desirable to beable to use the stitcher in the usual manner for some special job(either fiat or saddle), and another advantage of our apparatus is thatit can be employed with any type of stitcher.

At the discharging end of the saddle, beyond the stitcher, we have shownapparatus for automatically removing, closing, and piling the stitchedbooklets, this means here consisting of a pair of parallel shafts 2B3Ghaving paired pulleys 2l2l thereon, cooperating with belts 22 whichcooperate with other pulleys 23 at one side of the saddle. Workingthrough the apex of the saddle adjacent to these belts are verticalblunt blades 24 connected to a movable cross head 25 which atpredetermined moments is caused to rise carrying these blades throughsuitable apertures in the top of the saddle and thereby lifting thebacks of the booklets between the pulleys and belts which are meanwhilerotated in such a direction as to grip and lift the booklets, closethem, and deliver them laterally onto a suitable shelf 26 provided forthe purpose, all as set forth in the patent of Daniel Rieser, No.1,086,084, February 3, 1914.

Rigidly connected to the saddle adjacent its discharging end is a framecomprising transverse elements 36, a longitudinal element 3! andvertical elements or legs 32. Journalled in this frame is a horizontalshaft 33 carrying at one end the sprocket l and at the other end thesprocket 34, the latter being adjacent to the horizontal element BI, andcooperating with an endless chain 35, the opposite end of which iscarried by an idler sprocket 36 also supported by the element 3| in suchwise that one run of the chain shall be horizontal. Carried by theelement 3| is a horizontal guide bar or guideway 3! on which is mounteda reciprocable cross head 38. The horizontal run of the chain passesimmediately .adjacent to one face of a block 39 OI shouldered elementcarried by this cross-head. slidably mounted on the face of this crosshead parallel to said chain is a slide bar 0 having on the side next tothe chain an adjustable element 4| formed with a wedge-shaped end 42which cooperates with the complementarily-shaped extremity 43 of avertically reciproceble dog 44 which is slidably mounted between guideblocks I 45, said dog having its upper end shaped to enter and engagethe links of the chain 35 in driving relation as shown at 46.

J ournalled to the frame is a horizontal shaft 56 parallel to the shaft33 and having at one end the crank-disk 5| to which is operativelyconnected one end of the pitman 52, the other end of said pitman beingconnected to a wrist pin 53 carried by the slide-bar 40. As a result ofthis construction, movement of the slide-bar M1 in one direction firstelevates the dog 44 into engagement with the chain, and then moves thechain 35 a distance dependent upon the stroke of the pitman, releasingthis chain at the end of the stroke. Any one 'of numerous expedients maybe employed to vary the stroke of this pitman, that here shown being toattach the pitman to a lever arm 54, having one end pivoted at 55 to abracket 56 carried by the frame andhaving its opposite end slidablyengaged by a bearing box 51 which is pivoted at 58 to the disk 5!. Thislever is shown as formed on its outer face with an elongated slot 59 inwhich is located a longitudinally adjustable block 65 to which thepitman is articulated. By varying the position of this block along itsslot the stroke of the pitman 52 may be varied as desired from zero to avery wide range; and while this particular construction is not necessaryto our invention it has certain secondary advantages in that the goingand returning strokes of the pitman are performed at different speedswhich is an advantage in this machine as will hereafter be pointed out.

In the present embodiment we have illustrated the shaft 50 asoperatively connected by spiral gears 8| to an operating shaft 62 whichin turn is driven through spur gears 63 and 64, the latter being fixedto rotate with a pulley 65 upon which rides a belt 66 connected withsome suitable power source (not shown). It will be seen that one advancestep of the conveyor is effected for each turn of the shaft 55, and inthe present embodi-- ment the further refinement is provided that themovement of the conveyor is efiected during the slow-moving portion ofthe stroke of the pitman 52, the return movement of the pitman beingeffected at higher speed, thus causing the period of dwell to be shorterthan the period of movement, increasing the output of the machinewithout entailing excessive speeds of the parts, and tending to equalizethe load on the driving element. The operation of the stitcher iseffected during the dwell period and-it may conveniently be timed bymeans of a suitable cam 79 on the shaft 59. We have also shown the shaftI! of the stitcher as operated by a chain II from a sprocket on theshaft 50, although the latter mode of driving is entirely a matter ofconvenience. It is characteristic of this type of stitching machine thatthe shaft thereof is rotated continuously and that by depressing thetreadle IS a suitable clutch (not shown) contained in and constituting apart of the stitcher, connects said shaft in operative relation to thestitcher head suificiently long to apply one stitch or staple afterwhich it is immediately disconnected until the treadle is againdepressed. A convenient way of effecting this operation is illustratedin Figs. 1, 2 and 12 hereof. In this embodiment we have shown anadditional horizontal shaft 72 carried by the pedestal M and by anadjacent leg 2 of the saddle, and on this shaft is pivoted arearwardly-projecting lever-arm 13 having, intermediate its ends, aroller M which rests on the treadle l8, and having its rearwardextremity connected to a vertical rod 15, the upper end of which isattached to a horizontal lever 76 pivoted at 11 to the frame 30 andextending closely over the top of the cam 16. At its end opposite thefulcrum 11 the lever 16 terminates in a notch 18 cooperating with acatch 79 operatively connected to an operating rod 80 which overhangsthe saddle where it is provided with a trigger 8| adapted to bedisplaced by the arrival of a booklet thereunder at a proper phase ofthe machine movement. I

Carried by the chain 5 are spaced projecting fingers by which thebooklets or signatures are propelled along the saddle. Two types of suchfingers are shown in Fig. 1, namely, upon the lower run of the chainsome single fingers 82, spaced at equal distances along the chain andadapted to have signatures laid upon the saddle between them; and inFig. 3 and upon the upper run of the chain in Fig. 1 we have showndouble fingers consisting of an outwardly-projecting finger 82, andadjacent thereto a shorter finger 83 parallel thereto and having aslanting end 84 conforming in slope to the slope of the saddle, andprojecting sufficiently thereabove to engage the body-portion of abooklet. When double fingers are employed, as here shown, the long andshort fingers are reversed in successive pairs, this arrangement beingchosen for the gathering of booklets wherein the cover projects beyondthe body. The fingers are easily secured by screws tapped into the chainblocks, the bases of the fingers being slotted to enable the necessaryadiu ment- The length of the saddle I is made sufiiciently great topermit the gathering thereon of as many signatures as may be desired,the arrangement of the propelling fingers and of the stitching headsbeing suited to the length and size of such signatures, and the lengthof travel of the chain being likewise adjusted. In Fig. 1 we have shownthis device as adjusted for the handling of dissimilar booklets inpairs, plain folders without covers alternating with booklets which areprovided with extended covers, and the mechanism being so adjusted as toadvance the chain two steps at a time whereby the respective bookletsare brought into proper relation with the respective pairs of stitchingheads which are spaced a proper distance apart to cooperate therewith.

It is customary to run these machines continuously and at such speed asto require smart action by the attendants to supply the folded sheets tothe saddle, and it often happens that due to some accidental reasonblank spaces appear in the procession. So long as the trigger 8| remainselevated by contact with booklets on the saddle, the lever 15 is free tofall after each revolution of the cam I0, thereby as a result of its ownweight and the weight of the rod I5 depressing the treadle I8 andthereby producing an operation of the stitcher a predetermined period oftime thereafter, sufficient to have allowed the arrival of thesignatures in proper position. However, in case a signature be missingfrom the saddle, the trigger 8| drops and the catch I9 prevents anyfalling movement of the lever I5, thereby preventing the stitcher fromoperating. It is also desirable in some cases to provide emergency meansfor preventing operation of the stitcher, such, for example, as thatshown in Figs. 1 and 12 wherein a separate lever independently pivotedon the rod I2 is provided atone end with a pedal pad 86 and at the otherwith a finger 81 extending beneath the lever I3. Pressure on this pedalholds the lever I3 elevated and prevents actuation of the treadle.

Various types of guides and holders can be employed to assist theorderly progress of the signatures through the machine. We have hereillustrated L'-shaped fingers 90 overlying the apex of the saddle, apressure-roller 9|, a V-shaped block 92, and long spring-pressed fingers93. These can be employed in any combination or relation desired,depending upon the character of the work in hand.

It will be seen that one operation of the shaft 33 (although seldomexactly one turn of that shaft) will be producedfor each completerotation of the shaft 50. Due to the fact that the moving partsof themachine have considerable inertia and for the purpose of arresting thesame with certainty and of holding the same positively against movementexcept for such period as movement is desired, we have indicated acontrol shaft as journalled in the frame parallel to the shaft 33 and asconnected to the drive-shaft 62 by means of spiral gears 96 whereby itis operated at the same speed as the shaft 50. Carried by shaft 95 arethree cams 91, 98 and. 99. Cam 91 cooperates with a lever I00 to whichis attached a brake-band IIJI cooperating with a brake-drum I02 carriedby shaft 33, so as to bring said shaft to rest promptly after eachactuation. Cooperating with the cam 98 is alever I03 having a tooth I84which engages between the teeth or acog-wheel I05 carried by the shaft33. The cam 99 cooperates with a lever I06 which operates the electingknives 24 through the agency of rockers I01.

It isnot always necessary that both the fricmovement of the shaft 33,releasing this brake at a sufiiciently early moment for all possibleadjustments of the mechanism, and adjusting the cam 98 to release thelever I03 at the latest possible moment, and allowing the effect of thetwo safety devices to overlap by a varying amount, depending on theadjustment of the mechanism. As-between the two safety devices weconsider the brake as the more important.

In order to make certain that the sliding movement of the cross-head 38shall not occur with such ease as to cause its reciprocation to occurwithout forcing the dog 44 into engagement with the chain 35, we haveprovided said cross head with a friction-gib I Ii) slidably engaging theundercut edge of the guide 31 and held in engagement therewith by thespring I I I and adjustingscrew II2.

In these drawings we have shown the machine as handling two dissimilarsizes and types of booklets at one time, this being rendered possible bythe positive timing and travel of the mechanism throughout the machinewhereby the signatures are both stitched and unloaded with accuracy andwithout mixing. Even though the signatures be all of one size-theadvance of the conveyor by multiple steps is advantageous as affordinghigher rate of production with low speed of stitcher and of machinetravel. These considerations become of importance in the case ofeditions running into the hundreds of thousands.

' By the use of the chain and cross head drive here shown the length ofeach step can be varied as desiredfor any particular job, this beingimportant for certain job-printing businesses. It will be obvious thatWhenever the length of travel is changed, the spacing of the fingersmust also 7 be changed, and that sometimes the length of the chain mustalso be increased or decreased so as to retain an aliquot number ofequal stations. For this purpose the bracket II5 which carries thesprocket 8 is made longiudinally adjustable.

In some printing establishments, however, which confine themselves to asingle size of volume (such as the Saturday Evening Post) there is noneed for any wide range of adjustability, and for such use the desiredalternative of advancing movement and dwell may be secured by the use ofintermittent gears, one example of which is shown in Figs. 2 and 11hereof.

Carried by the shaft 95 is an intermittent gear II6, meshing with apinion III carried by shaft 33, one of which is slidable along itsshaft, in this case the pinion III, by suitable means such as a shiftinghandle II8. Obviously these gears cannot be used at the same time withthe chain 35, but can be used alternatively therewith for the purpose ofaffording an intermittent movement to the chain 5.

The word signatures is used in the generic sense to include all kinds ofpaper sections,

whether folded or flat, printed or plain, one or many. These signaturesare laid on the supporting portion of the conveyor at the left hand ofthe stitching device, between the properly spaced fingers, during theperiods of dwell. Sometimes a series of operatives stationed along themachine lay successive sections in place one upon the other; sometimesthe signatures have been previously assembled and are merely laid uponthe conveyor for stitching. Sometimes when the signatures are large itis possible to advance only one signature per step; whenever thesignature is sufficiently small to enable two or more to be included ina single advancing step, the output of the machine is correspondinglyincreased. The interspersing of signatures of difierent sizes and shapesis merely another means of securing the highest use of the machine, andis permitted by the certainty with which the signatures are presented tothe stitching station and unloading station, whereby mixing of theoutput is prevented as surely as though the work were done on separatemachines; and this expedient further enables the adjustment of themachine for different sizes of signatures without requiring anyadjustment of the length of the advancing steps.

Hence the movable nature of the fingers or projecting elements hasutility even in the absence of any provision for varying the length ofthe advancing steps of the conveying element, and thus by reducing thenumber of the adjustments necessary to be employed facilitates theemployment of intermittent gears for producing the step by step motion;although a reciprocating pitman exhibits one very great advantage inthat it produces a gradual starting and stopping movement.

Other advantages of our improved machine are that the signatures arenotonly conveyed all the way through the machine by one and the sameconveyor, thus avoiding the risks of disarrangement inseparable from atransfer of signatures from one conveyor to another, but also that bylocating the fingers exactly the correct distance apart, which this typeof conveyor element permits, the signatures can be held positivelyagainst any disarrangement and must positively become stitched inexactly the arrangement given them by the gatherer. In case of any errorin the gathering, the operator nearest the stitching device can alwaysprevent the operation of the latter, thereby causing the section toemerge unstitched and preventing the need of unstapling to rectify theerror.

While we have chosen for purposes of illustration a saddle-shaped typeof supporting element we do not limit ourselves thereto since many atleast of our improvements are applicable to fiat conveyors; and we donot limit ourselves to machines which perform a stitching or staplingoperati'on since some of our improvements are applicable to machineswhereby other types of book-binding operations are performed; and ingeneral we do not limit ourselves to any details of construction,arrangement, design, adjustment or mode of operation except asspecifically recited in our several claims which we desire may beconstrued each according to its own limitations and independently oflimitations contained in other claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim is:

l. A book-binding machine having a gathering station and an operatingstation for signatures, a single conveying element traversing both saidstations, projecting elements carried by said conveying element andbetween which the signatures are introduced, a reciprocating crossheadfor advancing said conveying element in a step-bystep manner, chainmeans operatively connecting said crosshead and said conveying element,5

element, an endless conveyor element having a 15' portion parallel tosaid supporting element, spaced projecting elements carried by saidconveyor element and defining spaces on said supporting element for thereception of signatures,

and means for advancing said conveying element 20 intermittently bysteps comprising a power transmission chain operably connected to saidconveying element, a reciprocating member for intermittently moving saidchain in one direction, means for driving said reciprocating member, a25 lost-motion connection between said last named means and saidreciprocating member, and a dog carried by said reciprocating memberarranged to be moved by said last named means into engagement with saidchain during the initial move- 30 ment in one direction of saidreciprocating member driving means.

3. A book-binding machine having a gathering station and an operatingstation for signatures, a single conveying element traversing both 35said stations, projecting elements carried by said conveying element andbetween which the signatures are introduced, means for advancing saidconveying element in step-by-step manner comprising a reciprocatingmember, means for driv- 40 ing said reciprocating member at a relativelyhigh speed in one direction and at a relatively slower speed in areverse direction, means for effecting a driving connection between saidconveying element and said reciprocating element only during 45 itsmovement in said second named direction, and means for varying andfixing the length of such steps.

4. A book-binding machine having a gathering station and an operatingstation for signa- 5 tures, a single conveying element traversing bothsaid stations, projecting elements carried by said conveying element andbetween which the signatures are introduced, means for advancing saidconveying element in step-by-step manner, and 55 5. A book-bindingmachine having a gather- 60 I ing station and an operating station forsignatures, a single conveying element traversing both said stations,projecting elements carried by said conveying element and between whichthe signatures' are introduced, means detachably securing 05 saidprojecting elements to said conveying element whereby the spaces betweensaid projecting elements may be changed to enable the accommodation ofsignatures of different sizes, and means for advancing said conveyingelement in step- 70 by-step manner comprising a chain operativelyassociated with said conveying element, a crosshead, means forreciprocating said crosshead, a dog'carriedby said crosshead and movablerelatively thereto into engagement with said chain 75 by said crossheadreciprocating means for effecting the movement of said conveyingelement, and means for varying and fixing the length of such steps.

6. In a combined gathering and stitching machine for signatures, aconveyor having a supporting element and an endless conveying elementmovable along said supporting element, said conveyor having a gatheringstation and a stitching station and said conveying element passingthrough both of said stations, projecting elements carried by saidconveying element and defining signature spaces, said projectingelements engaging opposite ends of each signature whereby disarrangementis prevented, and means for advancing said conveying element instep-bystep manner comprising a reciprocating member, means for drivingsaid reciprocating member at a relatively high speed in one directionand at a relatively slower speed in a reverse direction, means foreffecting a driving connection between said conveying element and saidreciprocating element only during its movement in said second nameddirection, said means defining a dwell of each signature-space in saidgathering station and another dwell in said stitching station.

7. In a combined gathering and stitching machine for signatures, aconveyor having a. supporting element, said conveyor having in the ordernamed a gathering station, a stitching station and a dischargingstation, a stitching device in said stitching station operativelyassociated with said conveyor, means for adjusting said stitching devicelongitudinally of said conveyor, automatic unloading means in saidunloading station operatively associated with said conveyor, an endlessconveying element movable along said supporting element and passingthrough all of said stations, projecting elements carried by saidconveying element and defining signature-receiving spaces, means foradjusting the position of said projecting elements on said conveyingelement, means for advancing said conveyor element intermittently byequal steps each of which includes a plurality of signature spaces, saidlast means defining a dwell in each of said stations, means for varyingand fixing the length of such steps, means operative during a dwell foractuating said stitching device, and means operative during a dwell toactuate said unloading means.

8. In a book-binding machine, in combination, a horizontal supportingelement adapted to have signatures laid thereon, an endless conveyingelement having a portion movable horizontally along said supportingelement, spaced projecting elements carried by said conveying elementand extending into engagement with signatures on said supportingelement, means for advancing said conveying element intermittently in astepby-step manner and providing a period of dwell between successiveadvancing steps of smaller magnitude than the period of movement,mechanism for operating upon said signatures supported adjacent to saidsupporting element, means operative during a dwell period for producingoperations of said mechanism, unloading mechanism adjacent to saidsupporting element beyond said first-named mechanism, and meansoperative during a dwell period for actuating said unloading mechanism.

9. In a machine for gathering and stitching signatures, the combinationwith a supporting element having gathering stations and a stitchingstation of a single endless conveying element traversing all saidstation's, means comprising a pivoted fulcrum lever, a rotatable membereccentrically connected to said fulcrum lever and-oscillating the sameabout its pivot with a relatively fast movement in one direction and arelatively 5 slow movement the reverse direction, means for connectingsaid lever to said conveying element for advancing said conveyingelement in a stepby-step manner while providing a relatively shortperiod of dwell between successive advances and projecting memberscarried by said conveying element and defining spaces for signatures,such spaces registering with said stitching station during the periodsof dwell, and means for varying the relative position of said membersand for varying and fixing the length of such steps, the length of eachadvancing movement being maintained the same as that between certain ofsaid projecting members.

10. In a machine for gathering and stitching signatures, in combination,a supporting element, automatic unloading means located adjacent to oneend of said supporting element, a stitching device located in operativerelation to said supporting element adjacent to said unloading means,said supporting element having a receiving station on the far side ofsaid stitching device from said unloading means, and chain meansincluding an endless conveying chain associated with said supportingelement and mov- 3O able from said receiving station past said stitchingelement to said unloading means, projecting members carried by saidconveying chain at spaced distances and defining spaces for signatures,there being an aliquot number of said spaces about the periphery of saidconveying chain and means including a reciprocating member having anelement engaging said chain means for advancing said conveyor chain insteps each equal to an aliquot number of spaces and for providing adwell between successive advancing movements.

11. In a combined gathering and stitching apparatus, in combination, anelongated supporting element, an endless conveying element associatedtherewith and having a portion extending from end to end thereof,projecting elements detachably and adjustably secured to said conveyingelement and defining spaces on said sup-' porting element adapted forthe reception of sig- 550 natures of varying lengths, mechanism foradvancing said conveyor element intermittently, friction brake means forquietly decelerating the movement of said conveyor element at the end ofeach advancing movement, and means for varying the length of suchadvancing movements to correspond to an aliquot number of signaturespaces.

12. In a machine for gathering and stitching signatures, in combination,a supporting element, an endless conveying element having a portionmovable along said supporting element, spaced projecting elementscarried by said conveying element and defining spaces upon saidsupporting element for the reception of signatures, a stitching devicelocated in operative relation to said supporting element, means foradvancing said conveying element intermittently in a stepby-step mannerand providing a dwell opposite said stitching device for the stitchingoi the signatures and means controlled bythe advancing mechanism foroperating said stitching device during such period of dwell, and atrigger device supported adjacent to said supporting element ahead ofsaid stitching device, and means controlled by said trigger forpreventing the operation of said stitching device in case'of the absenceof a signature.

13. In a combined gathering and stitching machine, in combination, asupporting element, an endless conveying element having a portionmovable along said supporting element, spaced projecting members carriedby said conveying element and defining spaces on said supporting elementfor the reception of signatures, an operating shaft for said conveyingelement, a constantly rotating drive shaft, intermittent drivingmechanism operatively connecting said shafts whereby a step-by-stepadvancing movement is imparted to said conveying element, means foradjusting the distances between said projecting elements, friction brakemeans for quietly bringing said conveying element to a stop at the endof each advancing movement, and means for adjusting said intermittentdriving mechanism to produce a length of stroke commensurable with thedisstances between said projecting elements.

14. In a combined gathering and stitching machine, in combination, asupporting element, an endless element having a portion parallel to andmovable along said supporting element, spaced projections carried bysaid conveying element and defining spaces on said supporting elementfor the reception of signatures, stitching devices located adjacent tosaid supporting element, means for'advancing said conveying elementintermittently in a step-by-step manner and providing a dwell betweensuccessive advancing movements, the period of dwell being shorter thanthe period of advancing movement and each dwell period being timed tooccur with a signature space in registry with a stitching device, andmeans for operating such stitching device during such dwell period.

15. In a conveyor, the combination with a substantially horizontalsupporting element of an endless conveying element, having a partmovable along said'supporting element, a rotatable shaft operativelyconnected to said conveying element,

a constantly rotating shaft, driving connections from said last shaft tosaid first shaft whereby said first shaft is rotated intermittently inone direction, and means including a friction brake controlled by saidlast shaft for securing said first shaft against movement during theperiod of dwell between successive rotations and for bringing said shaftto stop at the end of each movement.

16. A book-binding machine having a gathering station and an operatingstation for signatures, a single con eying element traversing both saidstations, projecting elements carried by said conveying element andbetween which the signatures are introduced, means for advancing saidconveying element in step-by-step manner, means for varying and fixingthe length of such steps comprising a chain associated with saidconveying element, a cross-head movable in a line parallel to a portionof said chain, a dog carried by said cross-head for operably connectingsaid cross-head to said chain, and means for reciprocating saidcross-head and for first moving said dog into and out of engagement withsaid chain as an incident prior tothe respective forward and reversemovements of said cross-head.

1'7. In a combined gathering and stitching machine for signaturesaconveyor having a gathering station and a stitching station and havinga supporting element traversing said stations, projecting membersextending through said element and defining signature spaces, and chainmeans for advancing said members in a step-by-step manner comprising across-head movable in a line parallel to a portion of said chain means,a chain-engaging member movably carried by said cross-head and means forreciprocating said cross-head and for moving said chain-engaging memberinto and out of engagement with said chain means as a step precedent tothe respective forward and reverse movements of said crosshead.

DANIEL REISER. ORIN J. REISER.

